The Big Whiff

or how the administration is missing the ball

William A. Gralnick

Well, it’s baseball time. Spring training is going strong. April will bring the start of the season. Baseball is a game of statistics, for example, how many times a player strikes out. That is called whiffing, which is missing the ball in baseball parlance. Thus, it seems appropriate to look at the recent State of the Union address in terms of statistics, like one would in baseball, and remember the quote attributed to Mark Twain. He said, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The President’s speech was the Big Whiff. When it did connect, It was big on walks and singles and not on triples and homers. Overall, it missed the mark and dwelt on lies, damned lies, and statistics. Let’s start with Mexican and Canadian tariffs

The President tells us that the goal of these tariffs is to cut down on the fentanyl coming across our northern and southern borders. There were over 200,000 lbs. of drugs captured at the Mexican border. So, there’s a case to be made there. Canada? 43 pounds. The ridiculous comparison of the two is so apparent that there is no more need to say anything about it.

There’s next to no case to be made about that big, bad, wasteful Federal bureaucracy. Scholars credit the French bureaucracy with saving France after the revolution. They were the people who knew where everything was and how to get things done. The Federal bureaucracy is about the same size as it has been for decades I’ll bet you didn’t know that) — three…